Shop in a box? Hmmmv…

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Situated opposite Starbucks, at Liverpool Street station, are four polished words – ‘Shop in a box’. Now i’m all for a convenient vending machine – i ADORE the Japanese alcohol dispensers and Amsterdam’s croquette machines – but somehow ‘Shop in a box’ doesn’t fill me with glee.

Maybe it’s because i associate ‘shopping’ with fun and human interaction? (even if it is shoulder barging the queue-pushers at Primark in Ealing)…

But anyway – always one to try something new – i thought i’d attempt a purchase at the coffins of retail. Apart from feeling EXTREMELY conspicuous – the first issue i had was whether i was registered. What?! I’ve got to type in my personal details with someone watching over me behind a Caramel Macchiato? I think not…

The next Flop in the Box was the alphabetical purchase options – Whereabouts would they file Eminem’s 8 Mile?

Apparently nowhere – and that’s another annoying thing with these stupid, grease-smeared windows of unopportunity – it takes you far too long to find what you don’t want. Whereas – if i was actually in HMV on Oxford Street – they’d probably have 8 Mile on special offer AND i’d have picked up a book on Japanese Schoolgirl Fashion.

I hope it doesn’t catch on. With this latest idea, i think HMV have really dropped a bo***x.